Another Kiamichi Trail run, 2/19-2/21

[ElkyRacer]

So Ive been lurking around this site for quite a while and figured Id throw up a post of a trip a few of my friends and I took. After seeing a group do the Kiamichi Trail, I started planning a trip out for us. This would be perfect way to break in the Cheep Jeep! Our plan was to run from Clayton, to 259, over into Arkansas and catch county roads to our camping spot southeast of Mena Ar. Hit some snags on the trail so we were not able to complete the trail but will be back to finnish! So on to the pictures!

So we get to Clayton thursday night and gas up before hitting the trail. We run down the trail a mile or so and find a wide spot to camp and blow up the old air mattress and call it a night.

Ran into this not far from the trailhead.

So we wake up to temps around 32 degrees and start breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and sausage!

After replacing an electric fan motor in the blue 4 runner, we hit the trails.

 

[ElkyRacer]

Weather was chilly, with 15-20mph winds, and some pretty good 45mph gusts! :Wow1: We come to an intersection in the trail, and decide to stop and get some snacks. One of those good 45mph gusts, decides to take the windshield of the grey 4 runner and throw it on the ground!

Well, not much we can do about it, so we press on.

And find a place to play around. Being it was my mayden voyage, I just HAD to find a place to flex it out!

 

[ElkyRacer]

A little further down the road, as Im bringing up the rear, I notice a bumpstop sitting in the middle of the trail. I radio ahead to tell one of the guys they lost a bumpstop, which also helps locate the u-bolts. They check and none are missing on the two rigs. So whoever it was with the grey 4 runner that came in January and tore up a lift block, I HAVE YOUR BUMPSTOP! This was just a few hundred yards from where they ran into the red truck, and half a mile from the fire in the middle of the trail!

And this would probably be the reason the guys in the red truck were trying to keep the last group from coming back. I bet they had all kinds of heck trying to get a 35ft triple axle travel trailer up this trail!! It had all kinds of rock rash on the back end.

So we press on for a few hours, cross the Indian Hwy and get probably halfway between the Indian Hwy, and Hwy259 and come up on this.

Yup, some prick recently cut this tree down in the middle of the trail. Purposely!

So we break out the hand saw, and a few min later the trail is passable again.

 

[ElkyRacer]

We make it maybe another 1/4 mile down the trail, and find TWO MORE trees cut and pushed into the middle of the trail. By this time its getting dark, and we are ready to call it quits and find our camping spot for the night. We cut a few limbs go around and found a wide spot. Time for dinner, and some shut eye!

We wake up Saturday morning to fog rolling in over the trees and a bit warmer temps. We were close enough to Whitesboro/Lenox to get cell service. We check the weather and see 80% chance for thunderstorms on sunday. So with a windshield-less rig, and nowhere to get a windshield, we change our plans and move on to hwy 259. From there we will take the pavement to our campgrounds in Mena.

 

[ElkyRacer]

After hitting the pavement, we come to the Cossatot River, and keep on into the Albert Pike campgrounds to do the three S's. We then went to our usual lookout tower to get some lunch and play around.

Mmmmmmm, creamy tacos!

Found some more places to check for tires rubbing, or shackle angle. :victory:

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

A little further down the road, as Im bringing up the rear, I notice a bumpstop sitting in the middle of the trail. I radio ahead to tell one of the guys they lost a bumpstop, which also helps locate the u-bolts. They check and none are missing on the two rigs. So whoever it was with the grey 4 runner that came in January and tore up a lift block, I HAVE YOUR BUMPSTOP! This was just a few hundred yards from where they ran into the red truck, and half a mile from the fire in the middle of the trail!

Hey hey thats me! I noticed I lost the bump stop when we were working on the truck! Any interest in sending it to me? Or I've got a buddy in Texarkana.

So did you see the logs where they built the fire??? Crazy huh?? Did it burn any of the surrounding area??? Did you guys take a pic of the situation?

I see someone got ahead of you guys and cut a tree down. I dont understand. Crazy *** red necks.

What suspension setup does the IFS truck have?

Nice pics thanks for sharing!

 

[ElkyRacer]

As the sun starts to set we decide to head to our normal campgrounds to setup for the night

And its dinner time!

Wake up to thunder and the great sound of rain hitting the roof of the Heep. Then I think about my buddy in his 4 runner without the windshield! He put a trash bag across where the windshield used to be, and was dry as a bone! So we let the rain break for a bit and started breakfast. Right in the middle of cooking eggs/sausage with bacon, the bottom fell out! The only thing left to do.....
move the stove into the Heep, jump in and eat breakfast in the dry!

After the rain broke a bit more we packed up camp, and headed back home. Probably another 45min later the bottom fell out again. I didnt get any pix but I felt sorry for my buddy running down the road in the cold rain with no windshield! But then again I couldnt stop laughing! He said it wasnt too awfully bad, but not something he would want to do on a regular basis.

It was a great trip and I for one am hooked on this kind of exploration. The two other guys are mainly interested in mudding, but I think they are even hooked as well. We are planning to head back up 259 and start where we left off, and find our way back to Mena via backroads/trails soon. We also want to make the loop back to Clayton.

I will say, the trail is littered with beer cans. I could take a small trailer and a few trash cans and PAY for my fuel for the trip! :coffeedrink:

Hope you guys/gals enjoyed!

 

[ElkyRacer]

Hey hey thats me! I noticed I lost the bump stop when we were working on the truck! Any interest in sending it to me? Or I've got a buddy in Texarkana.

So did you see the logs where they built the fire??? Crazy huh?? Did it burn any of the surrounding area??? Did you guys take a pic of the situation?

I see someone got ahead of you guys and cut a tree down. I dont understand. Crazy *** red necks.

What suspension setup does the IFS truck have?

Nice pics thanks for sharing!

Yea, Ive been talking with Joseph on aim about the trip after I figured out he was local. I can send it to you or drop it off to him, either way.

We did see where the douchbaggery happened and we all knew it. It really didnt burn long aparently, and didnt do any damage thankfully.

The IFS truck has a Skyjacker 5in suspension lift with a 3in body lift on 35in buckshots.

We ran into 2 4 wheelers on the trail near the camper, and 1 TJ near 259. No one else was out that weekend and it was nice to get away from it all!

 

[Mr. Leary]

I would like to go back and do that trail again, and maybe finish. It seems we were both defeated by the trail. I plan on making it back during the spring, but late fall during leaf off is always breathtaking out there. Maybe two trips, its just a bump down the road for us.

Nice trip report. THanks for sharing.

 

[whistle pig]

The IFS truck has a Skyjacker 5in suspension lift with a 3in body lift on 35in buckshots.

I was wondering this myself. That 4 runner has some pretty decent flex, for an ifs rig. It does apear that the front driver wheel is off the ground in the one pic, but not very much. Glad you guys had a good time.

 

[ElkyRacer]

Yea the drivers front and pass rear wheels were off the ground. The rear flex was limited by the shackle hitting the hitch on compression. Whats funny is those springs have such an arch to them, his shackles used to fold up against the frame on droop. He had to weld in stops to keep them from doing so.

 

[RU55ELL]

I'm going with a good friend from work (soonenough) in March. I'll be sure to bring a trash bag to do a little cleaning while we are on the trail. Good to see another trip and good pics.

 

[ElkyRacer]

I'm going with a good friend from work (soonenough) in March. I'll be sure to bring a trash bag to do a little cleaning while we are on the trail. Good to see another trip and good pics.

Shortly after breakfast the first morning I started picking up cans as we went down the trail. After I realized the cans would soon overtake the inside of the Heep, I aborted that project. I mean, really, I would not be suprised if you could fill up 3-4 trash full size trash sacks! :Wow1:

 

[pcampbell]

Kyle, you always know it was a good trip when there are plenty of crazy stories to tell afterward. Looks like you guys had fun!

A couple of us are wanting to run it sometime this year. We'll let you know when we get something settled.

 

[ElkyRacer]

Deff let me know when! Ill be there! And Ill post up before hand when we tackle the second part of the trail and see if I can drag some of you guys up there.